Guilty Album | Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1

Star-Lord’s Sony Walkman. Total nostalgia trip. When the opening bass thumps of “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone starts busting through those orange foam pads, or the “Ooga Chaka” chant of Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling”, you instantly know the Awesome Mix Vol. 1 is going to be the real deal.

“Guardians of the Galaxy”‘s soundtrack was a pop cultural phenomenon that essentially caught traction with lots of folks not only for the nostalgia factor, but certainly for the guilty pleasure quality of the selections. Director James Gunn and his team made sure to carefully craft a 70’s era mixtape that anyone would be proud to receive from their newfound love (or their *cough* dying mother).

While a few tracks are truly rock ‘n’ roll, soul or disco classics. A majority of them are just pure sweet guilt. Nestled within David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream” and “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways is the effervescently positive “Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum. Or the friggin’ brilliant storytelling of “Pina Colada Song”. Or “O-o-h Child” by The Five Stairsteps, which is basically a smile wrapped up in a song.

This phenomenal soundtrack re-introduced these tracks to me in the perfect way, while I was geeking out in a movie theater to the adventures of Groot, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Drax and Star-Lord.

Needless to say, it’s a must listen. And an overall good slice of songs that this blog was built for. Check it out!